Dr. Vinicius Mariano de Carvalho is the director of the King’s Brazil Institute. Born in Barra Mansa, Brazil, he received his PhD from the University of Passau, Germany; and his undergraduate and MA degrees from the Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Brazil. He joined King’s in 2014 and before he was Associate Professor for Brazilian Studies at Aarhus University (2008-2014), Denmark, where he was also Director of the Latin American Centre (2012-2014). Vinicius was a Lieutenant in the Brazilian Army (2007-2008), serving in the Military Technical Corps. At King’s, Dr Carvalho is devoting himself to both the Brazil Institute and the Department of War Studies. His research and publications on the epistemology of Brazilian Studies are a reference within the field, covering a diverse range of areas including literature, music, religion, history, international relations and defence and security. In the fields of defence and security, Dr Carvalho specializes in Latin American and Brazilian Armed Forces, with reference to historical and contemporary issues.
Daniel Buarque is a Brazilian journalist and PhD Candidate at the King’s Brazil Institute (KBI). He is currently in his final year of the Joint International Relations PhD programme with King’s College London and the University of São Paulo. His research analyses the international status of Brazil according to the perceptions of the five countries that are permanent members of the UN Security Council. Daniel has an MSc with Distinction in Brazil in Global Perspective from the KBI and a BA in Social Communication and Journalism from the Universidade Católica de Pernambuco (Brazil). Apart from his academic work, Daniel has 20 years of experience as a journalist in Brazil, working for some of the most prestigious outlets in the country. He is also a columnist and a prolific author – “Brazil, um país do presente” (Alameda Editorial), about the international image of the country, and “Por um Fio” (Autografia) a collection of long interviews conducted as a journalist, and three books about food and travel (such as “Comendo Londres: Um Guia para Amar a Pior Comida do Mundo”).
Maísa Edwards is a third-year Joint International Relations PhD student at King’s College London and the University of São Paulo. Her research topic explores Brazil and the Zone of Peace and Cooperation of the South Atlantic (ZOPACAS) and Brazilian diplomatic and defence relations in the South Atlantic (1986 – 2013). She is supervised at King’s by Vinicius Mariano De Carvalho. Maísa holds an MSc Brazil in Global Perspective from King’s College London and a BA (Hons) French and Spanish from University College London. She has worked in London for multinational organisations, such as CNN and Coca-Cola, as well as in Guadeloupe (French West Indies) for the British Council.